Boeuf Bourguignon

I know temperatures have been very good in Toronto lately and I am surprised myself how warm it is compared to last year! However, I am sharing with you a comforting fall and winter recipe: Boeuf Bourguignon.

Like the name says, it is a recipe from Burgundy a region situated in the East of France. If the name don’t tell you much maybe you have heard of the red wine of this region or Dijon the capital of the mustard. It is a beautiful place to visit as this region has a very rich history, great wines and delicious food. I lived in Dijon for 2 years and it is one of my favorite city in France. Burgundy is mostly famous for its wines, its gingerbread, escargots, a very stinky cheese called “époisse” and mustard. I can make a post about it if you are interested to know more about Burgundy (let me know in the comment section).

The recipe of today is a traditional recipe of Burgundy made with the red wine of the region. It is basically a wine and beef stew. It is warm, earthy, rich in flavors and definitively the perfect comforting food during cold weather. It is very easy to make and is very affordable as well.

Let start cooking!

Ingredients:

1 pound of stewing beef

500 ml of red wine (any kind of red wine is good)

500 ml of beef broth

2 Tbsp flour

250 g of diced bacon

2 medium carrots

1 onion

250g of mushrooms (I used bella mushrooms)

4 big potatoes

salt

pepper

bay leaves

thyme

Instructions:

1- The night before, place the beef and the wine in a bowl. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge all night.

2- The next day, strain the beef placing a bowl under to collect the wine. Slice your onion, the carrots and the mushroom and put aside.

3- In a large pot, cook the diced bacon until it is crispy. Put aside and cook the sliced onion in the bacon grease. Once the onion is soft, add the beef. Let the beef cook for a couple minutes and add the flour. Stir well

4- Add the red wine and let cook for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, add the beef broth, the sliced carrots, the mushrooms as well as your herbs and spices (salt, pepper, bay leaves and thyme).

5- Cover with a lid and put the pot on low heat. Let the pot cook for 3 to 4 hours. The longer the stew is cooking the tender the meat will be. If the level of of juice in the pot become too low, add more beef broth.

6- For the potatoes, you have different options. You can serve your boeuf bourguignon on mashed potatoes, add boiled potatoes on the side of the plate or add diced potatoes in the boeuf bourguignon ( add them about 20 min before serving)

As you can see, it is very easy to make. I usually like to prepare it the day before because the more you reheat it the better it taste!

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comments if you liked it.